Shooting Stars
by LadyMarrowind
Summary: OCCxOCC Two Soul's Paths Collide After A Brief Meeting Under The Stars, The Safety Of The Nine Tailed Jinchuuriki Lies Within Their Hands. Their Hearts Soar Like Shooting Stars.
1. Prologue

Shooting Stars

Rated: M

Universe: Naruto

Time Setting: (Prologue In Original Naruto And The Rest In Shippuden)

Characters: Mishiro Okazaki And Hitomi Makoto

Author: LadyMarrowind

Disclaimer: I Do NOT Own Naruto Or Any Of Its Characters.

Claimer: I Own Hitomi Makoto And Part Of Mishiro Okazaki.

Summary: Two Soul's Paths Collide After A Brief Meeting Under The Stars, The Safety Of The Nine Tailed Jinchuuriki Lies Within Their Hands. Their Hearts Soar Like Shooting Stars.

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Prologue

A little girl clung to her mother as they walked through the busy streets of Konoha together, there happened to be many villagers out in the streets during the time of summer. A festival was being prepared, and almost everyone who were able had volunteered to help with the festivities. The little girl stumbled and fell to her knees, her mother never noticing her daughter's absence. The girl stood up weakly wondering where her mother went off to until she was roughly shoved to the ground again.

"Hey watch where your going girl." A middle aged man grumbled out as he passed her with a few boxes of fireworks in his arms. A few fell out from the collision and the little girl curiously picked them up. No one seemed to notice her, or the missing fireworks. After carefully dodging more busy adults coming her way, the girl ran into a small clearing. She looked back once, still searching for her mother and then kept walking over to the small clearing that she knew people used as a training ground in the early morning.

The farther she walked the darker it became. Her mother had to have been worried for her by now. But the curiosity of what the fireworks exactly did and the wonder of the unknown territory kept her walking a steady pace even through the pitch dark past the clearing. Her footsteps light and sight sharpening by each passing second, one would think that she had been training to become a ninja like most of her family were instead of a homemaker in training that had an arranged marriage from birth. But most villagers knew of her situation and cared not for it, because it was a small clan matter. Many were against arranged marriages but it was a taboo topic so it was never argued.

The luminescent moon laid a glowing blanket all over the country, quieting the small forest that the young girl had just entered. Her long blonde hair glowed in the moonlight, her bright blue eyes widened and she stopped momentarily, now aware of the danger she put herself so blindly into. The girl set down the fireworks by her and rolled up her baggy blue formal kimono around the sleeves in order to call out for her mother properly.

"Mama...Mama...Mama!" She called out, becoming more frightened with every call unanswered. "Mama! Where are you Mama?"

"Hey!" A lone voice called out from afar.

"Mama?" The girl was relieved to hear a voice other than hers.

"I'm not your mama!" The voice came closer.

"Wh-who are you?" Fear ran up her spine and infected the rest of her body.

"I'm not your mama...but I can be a friend." A boy about the same age as her walked into the light of the moon. Her fear lowered exponentially at the site of him.

His thick chestnut brown hair covered his head and acted as a curtain whenever his head was lowered. The moon lightened his tan caramel skin as he walked closer to her. The boy's clothing looked foreign to her, baggy black pants with many pockets on them with his top similar looking to the shirt of a kimono with it's sleeves cut off. He carried many scrolls and tools of all kinds around his waist, she wondered what kind of things he could possibly need and have in them.

"Whats your name?" The thought of a friend made her eager and excited.

"My name is Mishiro Okazaki of the Sand." He bowed respectfully. "And yours is...?"

"I'm Hitomi. Hitomi Makoto of the Leaf." She nodded her head when she finished, making her blonde locks fly everywhere.

"Well Hitomi you can call me Mishi...Hey are those fireworks?" His voice perked up and his brown eyes brightened.

"Y-yeah I kind of took them when a man dropped them."

"Lets set them off!" He grinned wide.

"I don't have any matches..." Hitomi trailed off.

"Who needs matches when your a ninja? I don't!" Mishiro clapped his hands together.

"Your a ninja? But you look like my age, like your seven."

"I am eight years old!" He pumped his fist into the air. " One of the youngest genin's in my family!"

"That's so cool. I wish that I could be a ninja, I bet I'd be good at it." Hitomi smiled up at her new friend.

"I think so too. I didn't hear any of your footsteps or moving around the forest by you until you started to call for your mom." Mishiro rubbed his head in thought. "Why are you out here anyways?"

"I uhmn... got lost and I couldn't find my Mama. So I thought that the fireworks would help, but now I remember that I have no matches." Hitomi blushed and looked down in embarrassment. "Why are you in the woods?"

"I'm training here, tonight is my last day before I have to go back home with my parents...Hey lets go light those fireworks!" Mishiro took Hitomi's hand and led them out of the woods to a large mountainous area covered in long grass. The stars shown bright in front of the dark navy blue sky.

"Wow...you train here?" Hitomi almost dropped the fireworks she had picked up again.

"Yep. Its really pretty in the daytime too. This is my secret spot whenever I come to train here. If you were a ninja I'd share it with you...Hey hand me one?" Mishiro took a firework out of Hitomi's arms and sat on the grassy hill.

"You really think that I could be a ninja?" Her eyes held hope as she looked into the star covered sky.

"Sure. Your really quiet and sneaky right now, you could get even better and stronger. And being a ninja is cool! We get to do all kinds of stuff." Mishiro made a few hand signs and in a puff of smoke a lighter was in his hand. "I...uh don't know fire Justu yet. heh heh."

"That is so awesome." Hitomi stared at him in awe. "I could learn how to do that?"

"Yeah, I could show you some things some other time if you want." Mishiro spoke as he lit the tip of one of the rockets.

"Thank you." Hitomi smiled down at Mishiro, her normally peachy skin turning purple at the light of the firework high in the sky exploding.

"No problem. Here you do this one next." He handed her the lighter. Hitomi lit it and jumped back quick at the screeching noise it made.

"Haha calm down 'Tomi, I wont let you get hurt." Mishiro gave her a childish grin and a thumbs up.

"Its just very loud." She blushed and covered her head in her kimono sleeves.

"Here how about this one. It just sparkles." He handed her a stick and lit it I front of her.

"Wow..." Hitomi gasped, it kept her in a trance. Mishiro continued to light fireworks.

"This is the last one...okay there it goes." It shot up quicker than any of the others, when it exploded it made a chandelier effect in the sky then slowly faded away.

"They were very pretty. Hey are people setting off more?" Hitomi pointed into the sky, the stars shone bright but there were multiple lines stretching across.

"No...those are stars. Quick make a wish Hitomi." Mishiro patted her back.

"You make one too." Hitomi nudged his side.

"Okay." They both closed their eyes for a minute and reopened them to watch the rest of the shooting stars fly across the sky.

"Hitomi!" A woman's voice practically screamed out in joy.

"Mama?" She looked at her mothers form running to her, she inwardly leaned into Mishiro.

"My baby! I thought that I'd never see you again, that you were killed. But when I was those fireworks I hoped that it was you! I'm so glad that I found you." Her mother lifted her up from her sitting position on the ground and covered her with kisses. "Young man what is your name? You need to have a reward for taking care of my daughter."

"Its Mishiro ma'am." He bowed a bit.

"He doesn't need a reward. He didn't return her back into the village." An angry voice growled out.

"Papa..." Hitomi's voice held fear and sadness when she called him.

"Get out of my site you filthy..." He read his headband dangling with his scrolls on his waist. "Sand mutt." Mishiro said nothing and turned to leave.

"Mishi!" Hitomi called out and attempted to claw her way from her mothers grasp. Mishiro turned back, his face a little hurt from her fathers insult.

"Its okay 'Tomi, maybe I'll see you again some other time. We are friends after all."

"...Bye Mishi." she looked upset, her friend leaving her to an unknown place to her.

"See ya later Hitomi." With that Mishiro disappeared into the forest behind them.

"Don't you ever run off again!" Her father backhanded her in her mothers grasp. "If you disobey us in anyway again you are going to have to pay dearly." He walked a steady pace into the village. Her mother said nothing and never had a look of remorse on her face the whole time.

"Listen to your father dear. You don't want your father to beat you and then your husband in the future. He expects a well mannered wife and you are going to be just that. Now go run off to bed." Hitomi's mother told her in a cheery tone and a bright smile, she truly did not care about her daughter- only her fathers well being and happiness.

Hitomi ran up the long steps to her room, it was on the top floor because her father happened to be head of the clan. She locked her door and crawled into her bed. Tears ran down her face, she screamed into her pillow, clawed at her sheets, and ground her teeth together. Her windows were open and the lights were off but Hitomi could still see the massive stack on her bedside consisting of cooking and cleaning rules, dance lessons, singing lessons, manner and etiquette lessons, and a list of things to memorize about her future husband about his likes and dislikes, his hobbies and favorite things in a woman and how to be that woman. In all her seven years of life, Hitomi didn't believe that she could hate two people so much in her life and feel so helpless at the same time.

Her meeting with Mishiro made her realize that there was so much more to life, so much she could and should do. Her life had already been planned all the way to her death by her parents before she had even been conceived. She couldn't comprehend how they could do that to someone, especially to their own flesh and blood. Hitomi wouldn't take it anymore though, she would take control over the lack of life that she had and make it into something to be desired. She would be like a shooting star, going wherever she wanted to go, be seen by everyone as an amazing thing, and most of all be strong and in control.

"Mishiro...Thank you." Hitomi whispered and looked out of her window, the stars were barely visible but the moon shown bright. Inwardly she knew that he was looking at the moon too.

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Well that was my first attempt to make a fan-fiction~

Without characters like Sakura and Itachi or Sasuke and Kagome to hide behind.

This is all me and my boyfriend.

Of course there will be tons of Naruto characters

And a lot of side pairings

I will be following Shippuden _slightly_

I hope that the people that read "Life Gone Awry" will read this.

My boyfriend is writing a story of his own with the same characters

I will put the link up when he puts it up.

I recommend reading both.

I hope you enjoyed this prologue and will read more~

Any suggestions and comments are welcome.

REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW

Much Love~ LadyMarrowind.


	2. The Mission

**Shooting Stars**

Now for the story to begin, I hope that the beginning was good enough. Here is the link to my boyfriends fanfic of these two characters: /s/6143405/1/ - I honestly think that his writing skills are way better than mine so I recommend reading it ;]

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**10 years later~**

Hitomi stood up from her perch on a tree overlooking a campsite she was supposed to look after. She jumped down and strode over to a nearby tent where her teammates were. They acknowledge her presence and went back to work with setting up camp. The sun was about to set so everyone had a job to do. Hitomi was in charge to keep watch over the whole site while everyone else had to set up camp and search for food.

The seventeen year old sighed, her memories of the past haunted her and distracted her from doing her mission properly. Brown eyes appeared behind her eyelids, a childish grin, and a night under the stars. A a brief encounter of this one person changed her whole life around, and he was never too far away from her mind because of that. Hitomi sighed and pretended to keep watch again as another memory slowly fazed back into the forefront of her mind.

"_What are you doing?" Hitomi's mother screeched at the sight of her daughter throwing kunai and shuriken at a tree. _

"_Training Mama." She huffed and continued to throw the weapons at the at bulls eye almost perfectly._

"_A young lady such as you should not be doing such disgusting things like that!" Hitomi couldn't train anymore for her mother snatched all of her items away._

"_But-" Hitomi plead but was quickly cutoff by her mother._

"_NO! YOU ARE GOING TO YOUR ROOM NOW!" With that she was forced to climb the high staircase to her bedroom. Shortly after she sat on her bed, her father entered the room also._

_He immediately backhanded her again, this time with a repulsed look on his face. Hitomi crouched on her bed, holding the tears back and tried to keep silent. She knew that her father was preparing to say more than a few nasty things._

"_You have disgraced our clan. Your a worthless excuse of a person. I should have had a boy- no just an abortion. I don't want to see you anymore, I disown you now. Filthy little bitch- LEAVE RIGHT NOW!" Hitomi was again hit, this time in the back of the head. She quickly gathered as many of her possessions without her father maiming her more than he already was-physically and emotionally. She didn't understand it then, but her father hated ninja of all kinds and it was forbidden to be one in their clan-especially a girl._

_The seven year old Hitomi eventually found a place to stay and work for her dream to become a ninja. When she turned nine, she had graduated from the academy and did as many missions as she could possibly have done. With her determination, Hitomi quickly rose through the ranks to an ANBU at seventeen. There were rumors of her becoming a captain but she didn't care, she only worried about her worth in herself. Her worth to a person in her memory,_

Hitomi blinked, it was dusk and her comrades had already gone to bed. So she was stuck with night watch tonight. Great...just what she needed, more time to reminisce about her life. She wondered though... what did Mishiro accomplish in ten years? Would he even be alive?- A ninja's life was so hectic and dangerous that he could have died the day after they met. Of course she never wished that it happened to him, but the possibility of it worried her more.

_Where are you Mishiro?_

She looked up into the sky, watching the stars- waiting for one of them to fly across the sky. None of them ever did though, ever. Only on that one night, with the fireworks did she see shooting stars. Hitomi often wondered if she would ever see any ever again, and if she would see Mishiro.

"Maybe one day..." Hitomi sighed and stopped her thinking, she had a job to do.

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"I'm WHAT now?" Mishiro yelled out in surprise at the Kazekage.

"Captain." Gaara repeated slowly.

"No...way...HELL YES!" Mishiro shouted again and threw his arms into the air laughing.

"Congratulations. But I have a mission for you already." Gaara gave Mishiro a folder.

"Awwwr and I thought that I could have a break or a day to celebrate. So whats the mission about?"

"You and your squad will be protecting a close friend of mine for the time being. Another squad from Konoha will have the same mission. His safety is top priority, no one else should matter and take every precaution. If you fail your mission, your ninja status will be stripped from you. Is that clear?"

"Yes Kazekage-Sama." Mishiro bowed and left the room. He opened the folder.

_Mission: Protect Naruto Uzamaki_

_Squad 13- Mishiro Okazaki, Rin Takahashi, Ryu Taisho, Miro Higu._

_Date of Mission: Three days after notified of assigned mission._

_Details: A squad from Konoha will be also assigned the same mission in order to help the Sand squad. Naruto Uzamaki's health and well being is top priority. The mission will last as long as the subjects health is in possible danger. Weekly updates on progress are required. _

_Signed- Gaara The Kazekage Of The Sand._

Mishiro blinked at the scroll, as if Gaara couldn't stress enough that his buddy's health was 'top priority' he had to do it again in the scroll. He must be a pretty important guy- having the Hokage give him four body guards and then the Kazekage giving him four more. Why was this Naruto Uzamaki so important? It wasn't as if he held a Jinchuuriki or was the son of a Hokage...

"Eh I'm still getting paid for this so it doesn't matter much to me." Mishiro sighed and went to find his teammates.

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"Hiiiittttoooommmiiiii!" A boy by the name of Hayate called over to the sleeping Hitomi in the tree. "Wake up! Its time to head home!" He threw a kunai her way and she caught it easily-but still asleep.

"Are you ever going to learn that throwing things at her while she is asleep never wakes her up?" A girl the same age as them rubbed her eyes while she packed her bedroll.

"Leilei..." Hayate whined. "I can always hope!"

"Well its a pipe dream. Here let me show you how to wake her up quickly- but get ready for her wrath."

"Her wrath?" Hayate seemed to be unsure.

"MISHIRO YOUR HERE!" Leilei screamed at the top her lungs. Hitomi's eyes snapped open and she accidentally fell out of the tree.

"You bitch!" Hitomi lunged for the two, knowing that they had done it.

"Hahahaha feel the wrath of the one called 'Tomi!" Leilei preformed a Justu that let her sink into the ground, leaving Hayate the only one around.

"I hate you Leilei!" Hayate yelled as he ran from Hitomi that was quickly catching up to him.

"Stop it you two." A stern voice ordered. Hayate and Hitomi stopped dead in their tracks.

"Yes Sensei." The two turned and bowed to the oldest member of their squad.

"Good. Now lets head off to home, it looks like you all need some alone time." Their leader started to walk ahead of them, a sign to get into their formation. Leilei walked behind their Sensei, Hayate behind Leilei and Hitomi behind Hayate.

"Hey Leilei!" Hayate whispered.

"Yeeeeaaaahhh?" She turned her head back a bit.

"Why does saying that...name piss Hitomi off so much?"

"Well...I don't know. I heard her mumble it a few years back and asked her about it- she freaked out and ever since then I use it as a way to wake her up and bug her." Leilei turned her head back to the front.

"Oh. Thanks I guess." Hayate still felt confused.

"No problem." After that the group became completely silent until they arrived at the gates of Konoha.

"We will meet in the Hokage's office in one hour, use that time to eat and bathe. Dismissed." Ordered their Sensei, he looked especially tired. He was only in his late twenties but in ninja years he was an old man. The stress of his life style aged him ten years, but to most women he was attractive. Medium length spikes covered his head, a scar on his cheek and tired wise eyes on his angel sculpted face made women of all ages turn their heads. It was amazing that he was still single, but he kept on saying that him being an ANBU made him stay away from relationships.

"_If I were a Chunin, I'd settle down and make a family." He always said._

"_Why don't you ask the Hokage to demote you?" Hitomi would ask frequently._

"_I...haven't found the right woman to do that for."_

"_You'll never find her because you refuse to look!" Leilei poked him at times._

"_Maybe he did find her, but something happened..." Hayate looked at their Sensei._

"_..." Their Sensei said nothing and walked away from his subordinates._

Hitomi always wondered who took her Sensei's heart and kept it greedily, never giving it back for a chance of him falling in love again. But he never seemed to be too bothered by it so she usually kept quiet about it most of the time.

Their squad disappeared at the gates as they all went their separate ways. Hitomi went home, immediately stripping off her worn ANBU uniform and walking into her standup showers. She sighed as the hot water cascaded over her body. Her mind roamed again, as it usually did when there was silence of any kind. This time her mind reminded her of the first day she met her ANBU squad.

_Hitomi entered a training ground she had been ordered to go to, she assumed that her new partners had the same letter. No one had been there yet so she sat down underneath a tree, her mind drifting off. A young guy looking a little bit older than her approached the day dreaming Kunoichi. He sat down next to her and began to hum a tune- a very cheery one. Hitomi was almost immediately pulled from her thoughts at hearing it. She cracked one angry eye open and smacked the brunette behind his head._

"_Hey ow ow ow! What did I do?" The boy whined, tears pricked from his topaz colored eyes._

"_Your annoying." Hitomi growled and smacked him again to make sure._

"_Your hurting meeee!" Hayate ran out of her close range attacks and glared at her. "Your mean."_

"_No. Just easily irritable. I'll warn you before I hit you next time okay?" Hitomi fake smiled and then closed her eyes again._

"_Your...kinda cute." Hayate blushed._

"_I'm going to hit you." Hitomi smiled sweetly._

"_What? But-but I didn't do anything wrong!" He couldn't argue anymore for a kunai was thrown at his head. He easily caught it, but he got tackled by another person he didn't notice that arrived._

"_Hi! I'm Leilei!" The girl named Leilei gave a bone crushing hug to Hayate. "Whats your name?"_

"_H-hi-hiya-ahhhhh! Hayate!" The boy screamed. Leilei laughed and let him go._

"_Whats your name?" She ran up on Hitomi and touched their noses together._

"_Hitomi." She opened one of her eyes and fought the urge to smile, she just knew that with Leilei things would be fun. Her look of pure happiness seemed that it wouldn't leave her face. Leilei liked to smile wide so her white teeth blinded Hitomi for a second. Her long black hair had been braided into pig tails and her clothing looked similar to a girl named Sakura. She wore the dress in dynasty blue and her puffy pants were ivory white. Her shoes were dynasty blue flats, it confused her as to why she didn't wear ninja garb. _

"_Oh- I don't like to wear the ANBU outfit unless I'm on a mission." Leilei smiled and stepped back._

"_Well now where is our captain?" Hayate asked, he finally caught his breath. Hayate had worn the ANBU uniform but with his own added clothing. A black leather jacket with a high collar and a chained necklace. His mask was attached to the back of his head._

"_Right here." A man older than them said walking up to them. He wore his ANBU uniform, the only difference between him and the others was his vest. It was black to signify that he was the captain. Every captain had the option to wear the white or black vest, he chose to wear black most of the time._

"_So... What do we do now?" Hitomi asked, already starting to like this team. It felt like the family that she never had._

"_We introduce ourselves, hang out, and then get assigned a mission." Their leader explained._

"_So just like genin year?" Hayate perked up._

"_Yes. You get to go first then." Their Sensei smiled._

"_Oh uh okay then. My name is Hayate Mugen. I like to have all kinds of fun. I hate...Mean people. My goal is to get enough money saved up to buy a house and then start a family." Hayate nodded and sat back down on the grass._

"_My name is Hitomi Makoto. I like having adventures and exploring places. I hate...Liars and traitors. My main goal is to be an ANBU captain someday." Hitomi stared at their Sensei for a moment._

"_My name is Quan, Leilei...well its short for Leilani...wait no it's a nickname. Sorry I forget sometimes, haha. I like playing all kinds of games and playing pranks on people. I hate when I have to do boring stuff. My main goal is to find true love one day! And then be a Jonin teacher." Leilei smiled bright and laid down on the grass next to Hayate who was blushing madly._

"_Thank you all for sharing. My name is Nagato, but you all can call me Sensei. I like doing my job and getting paid for it. I dislike when missions go wrong. And my goal is to make sure that Konoha is always safe from danger." Nagato nodded his head. "Your all allowed to talk to each other now. I will be back with our mission." _

Hitomi smiled at the memory. That was when she first opened up to anyone after that one fateful night. She and Leilei had became best of friends and Hayate her own personal punching bag. Those two had some sort of romance between them, and she had no want to ask about it but was fine seeing them want to run off at random times and come back looking like hot messes. From them doing that so many times she had a lot of time spending with Nagato that he became a replacement for her as a father figure. And she was sure that out of all of them he felt like she was his unofficial daughter.

Hitomi stepped out of her shower and toweled off in her room. She quickly looked for a clean ANBU uniform in the closet filled with kimonos of all shapes and sizes. She had very little regular clothing for she liked to wear traditional clothing, it was beautiful and comfortable, and it served her needs as a Kunoichi- hiding many weapons and alluring men with the exotic patterns and colors. Not that she wanted men's attention, she usually didn't and never understood why for she was never attracted to the same sex either. A little thought always entered her mind after that though. She would quickly dismiss it and go about her day.

After she put on her clean uniform and dried her hair, Hitomi grabbed a few fruit and her pack of kunai , shuriken, and katana. She had no use for her backpack yet, not knowing of what kind of mission she would be already sent on. Hitomi placed her cat-like ANBU mask and left her apartment. As she ran on top of the buildings, Hitomi snacked on her fruit and viewed the town. It was bustling as always with all kinds of people from foreign lands. The marketplace boomed in the day and the casino's at night. Konoha thrived even when the destruction of Konoha was attempted by Orochimaru a few years back. She remembered that time well, she was assigned to protect clansmen of all kinds from the enemy. One of them was her father, he had a guilty face on for the few days she was assigned to him. She only glared and sharpened her tools with her mask on. She wouldn't let him see the tears that threatened to spill, just the bright blue eyes that held an angry glare to them. Eventually he tried to beg for forgiveness but all she gave him was a carved scar on the side of his face that read: Traitor in kanji form. He had to live with that for the rest of his life, until he committed suicide a year ago. It was said that his shame was too much for him to bear so after he impregnated his wife for the last time, he had about four children after he disowned Hitomi, he took a sword to the side of his head-his scar facing up for everyone to see. In honesty Hitomi didn't care, her father and mother were dead to her the moment they disowned her. She only wished that after her mother gave birth that she would be drowned in guilt too and do the same, but she knew her mother well- she would rather suck up and coddle her own children than feign guilt and kill herself. She never cared for her from the beginning so it was no surprise that she was busy having more children and training them to be good wives and greedy husbands.

_'Karma will get to her in time, just like father.' _Hitomi thought as she saw the Hokage's office in view.

Hitomi stood on the ledge, contemplating to enter through the window or not until she heard the Hokage shout: "GET IN HERE." Then Hitomi slid the window open and climbed in. She besides her Sensei Nagato who always seemed to be there before her was early.

"Where is Leilei and Hayate?" Hitomi asked Nagato.

"What do you think that they may be doing with one hour of free time?" Nagato asked, now that he mentioned it- they both ran off in the same direction...

"Sorry Sensei, that was a stupid question to ask." Hitomi blushed and stared at her sandals.

"Its fine, they should be here in a few minutes anyways." Nagato looked out another window.

"So Hitomi how have you been? Its been three months since I last saw you both. Your hair looks to have grown longer, how do you fight with that length? You can nearly step on it."

"Its not that long Hokage-Sama. It only reaches to my thighs now, I will be trimming it shortly." Hitomi fidgeted, she always felt nervous around her elders- something she had to deal with since she was little.

"Oh Hitomi you call call me Tsunade, or even Okaasan!" Tsunade had little hearts appear around her.

"I uh...uhmn...-" Hitomi was thankfully cut off by Hayate bursting through the door, panting.

"Hey sorry we are late- we were a little caught up because there was a pink cat stuck-"

"Your not late." Nagato glared at him for his poor excuse.

"No I'm serious! Leilei saw it around Ichiraku and then it ran up a tree, we tried to get it down but-"

"Thats enough of your silly lies Hayate. Lets get to business now." Tsunade pulled out a few folders.

"No one believes me." Hayate sniffled but grinned wide when he felt Leilei's lips on his neck.

"Ok I have an assignment for you all. It is relatively easy depending on the circumstances. You four are assigned to protect one of our most valuable ninja. His name is Naruto Uzumaki and he is technically a genin but he has the power and experience of an ANBU. His life is in serious danger now more than ever and he needs some of the best ANBU to protect him, and that means you four and another squad coming here soon. You are going to protect him with your life and nothing less. If he dies then we are all doomed. You are having backup from the sand. You are to communicate with them and figure out a way to keep Naruto safe. Do you all understand? Your mission starts immediately, but you will have a day to pack and get to his house. The sand ANBU will be arriving in two days- meet me with Naruto when I send you the message." Tsunade passed out the folder with Naruto's information and location. Everyone read them over and memorized it all. Once Tsunade felt that everyone was ready, she dismissed them.

"Does anyone know about this Naruto guy?" Hayate asked the squad.

"He contains the nine tailed Jinchuuriki within him. If he were to die then the fox would either die too or be released and cause mass chaos and destruction throughout the land. No one is sure yet but also no one is willing to find out what will happen. The boy is loyal to the village so that is good, his power can protect and destroy a village like ours easily. It is best for us to have him and protect him from death or corruption by the enemy. He is highly important and we should be honored to accept this mission." Nagato explained with deep wisdom, from that explanation everyone knew how important this was.

"Okay, I'm going to go pack and get some rest. Come on Hayate-Kun!" Leilei grabbed Hayate by the jacket and led him off to another unknown area.

"Will they ever give each other a rest?" Hitomi asked Nagato, a little irritated at their shows of affection.

"Jealous are you? Hitomi you will find someone to love one day, and then you will see how much you wont be able to stop yourself from showing as much affection as possible to them. They become like a drug that you want to overdose on, a sanctuary, an amazing thing." Nagato's eyes followed the direction of where Leilei and Hayate ran off to.

"I'm not jealous! I just...think that I am incapable to love is all. Are you speaking from experience Sensei?" Hitomi tried to prod into his life again.

"Yes I am, and loosing the one you love is one of the hardest things that can happen to you-whether it be from break up or death. Love is an amazing thing and a horrible thing at the same time. Hitomi I believe it is possible for you to find someone, just open up but be careful with who it is though."

"I thought you cant choose who you fall in love with..." Hitomi was getting a but confused.

"That's right but you can guide your heart. Your heart will choose for you. Just be careful where you lead it." Nagato kept walking while Hitomi stayed still. "I'll see you in a day."

"Yeah Bye Otousan..." Hitomi didn't notice her slip up but Nagato did, he turned around and smiled before he left out of site. Hitomi was still too deep in thought, her mind trying to grasp the concept of love but was failing miserably at it.

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Mishiro stood at the top of a sand dune. His thick brown hair swayed in the breeze and his toothy grin widened when he felt his teammates behind him panting from exhaustion. He himself rarely was ever tired, he had all kinds of energy people would tell him. He would smile bright and say "Thanks!" and run off to some other place that peaked his interest. Mishiro readjusted his chocolate brown trench coat and fixed his belt of massive belts that hung around his slender hips. Mishiro had changed a lot in over the past ten years. He had recently become a sand ANBU captain and had mastered fighting with his favorite weapon of choice a few years back. An ivory marble Bo Staff made to endure all kinds of heat, ice, and attacks of any kind. He had worked himself to the bone at most times, always trying to prove himself and his worth. Many had doubted him and he had always proved them wrong. Now that he was on top he had no idea what to do besides go on epic missions like the one he was on now. He always wondered what he would exactly do but it never really sunk in until now where the only rank higher than him was Kazekage. Mishiro looked himself over one more time before he set off on the rest of the journey, he was half way to Konoha. His teammates were begging for a break so he finally gave in this time.

His oak colored ANBU pants stuck tightly to him and his assortment of scrolls loosely clung to him so whenever he moved he heard the small clanks and chimes of them, his light brown colored armored vest clung to him also while his long sleeve shirt with a high collar the color of chocolate brown shown underneath stuck to him also. People wondered how he could wear such warm clothing in the Sand villages heat. He would only reply "It makes me look cool though huh?" And then he would laugh at the face they made. In honesty the heat never bothered him at all. In fact having that extra layer of clothing made him feel a bit more protected, from the sun and enemies. To them he wouldn't be so easy to kill because of it. His long trench coat hid most of his weapons and the long sleeves of his shirt and pants kept him protected from most oncoming attacks. So in his point of view, Mishiro was the smart one.

Mishiro scratched his itchy light brown skin and then turned to his exhausted teammates. "Hey come on lets go! We have a day to get there." He smiled bright, his cheeriness made them glare and throw a bag at him.

"Hey! Don't be like that! We are almost done- this is my order so you got to follow them." Mishiro crossed his arms and smiled when he heard them groan.

"Your gonna kill us Sensei!" Ryu whined.

"You must be really weak if your gonna die from a little running..." Mishiro poked the now angry Ryu.

"I'll show you who's weak!" Ryu lunged at Mishiro who easily dodged and laughed.

"Can't get meeeeeee!" The ANBU captain ran across the sand dunes into a growing forest area, with Ryu quickly following. Rin and Miro sighed as they tried to keep up with the two.

"Why do they do this to us?" Rin asked Miro.

"Because we are ANBU and can apparently take it..." Miro sighed and continued on their journey.

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Well there is chapter two!

Naruto will be in the next chapter.

Mishiro and Hitomi meet again.

Explosions!

Ok so here is the link to the other story

Fanfiction dot net /s/6143405/1/

Its really good so you all should take a peek.

REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW

Much Love~ LadyMarrowind.


	3. Meeting Each Other Again

Shooting Stars

Thanks For The Reviews

**Requiem of Abbie Rose **

**Sariko-Chan723**

**Unishibi Moriko**

**TriggerBlues**

Love Ya!~

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Hitomi put down her favorite novel, Icha Icha Paradise. 'Its a classic.' she would tell all her friends that gave her odd looks. The series actually held quite a bit of romance in them before they got down into the nitty gritty smut scenes- she would always tell herself that she never enjoyed those scenes, that she would read through them to get back into the wonderful story.

_'Yeah right... you love those scenes just as much as the romance.' Hitomi scoffed to herself._

Hitomi got up from her seat in her apartment, she tried to calm down and unwind from reading one of her favorite books but it was of no use. The biggest mission of her life started tomorrow and she couldn't wait. Excitement bubbled up like a cauldron in her stomach.

_'Maybe I'll get promoted after all of this.' _She thought happily, going into her fridge in search for a glass of orange juice. _'Only then I can rest, only then I will be able to think of him without shame inside of me. Only then will I ever entertain the idea of going in search of him.'_ Hitomi often wondered what happened to her friend of one day from the Sand. She wondered if he remembered her, thought of her from time to time, of course not nearly as much as her of him but she could only hope. He did change her life completely with his presence. Without him, she would have been married and with at least three children by now. Hitomi was grateful that she wasn't, she never wanted to lead that life- even under her parents tight grasp.

"I need to stop dwelling on the past...Heh." She let out a dry laugh. "That's all I ever do...just dwell, wish, hope, and regret." Hitomi grabbed a muffin out of her kitchen cabinet and walked slow to her room.

"Besides a promotion... I have nothing to look forward to. I have no family. I have few friends that I rarely see now days... and I live in the past." Hitomi frowned. Her life used to be exciting and great. When did it fade away? When did her friends loose interest in her? When did she become lonely? Why did she not realize it sooner? Hitomi laid on her bed, staring at the white ceiling with a deeper frown on her face.

"Why does everybody leave me?" Hitomi let her tears run down the sides of her face, she felt so alone. She closed her eyes and forgot about her dinner. She had lost her appetite the moment she stepped into her quiet dusty room. Hitomi closed her eyes, willing her mind to forget the pain. She had a mission, now wasn't the time to sulk- it would disrupt the mission and most likely end in a failure.

_'Mission first, heart second.'_ Hitomi would chant in her mind before it thought things over more- blowing the extremes of her situation out of control to an unimaginable height. _'Mission first, Heart second.'_

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"Everyone listen up, our second squad from Sand should be arriving soon. After we exchange pleasantries in front of the Hokage, we are to immediately confront Naruto and inform him of our protection for him." Nagato made sure his pupils understood, they were all adults but he knew that they could act worse then genin at times. Hayate was the worst.

"Hey hey you don't have to worry about us. We can act civil." Hayate defended.

"Like last time where you set a paper bomb in the captain of squad ten's underwear?" Nagato watched everyone flinch at the memory.

"Uh-hahahahahahahahaha! He insulted Leilei for not wearing her uniform at all times, he deserved it." Hayate scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"I don't want to see or hear about any of you misbehaving." Nagato growled.

"Yes Sensei." Leilei, Hitomi, and Hayate nodded.

"Good. Now lets get to the Hokage's office." The three followed their Sensei on the rooftops.

"You all on time-and together! That's amazing." Tsunade laughed and clapped.

"Thank you Tsunade-Sama, they knew the importance of this mission." Nagato explained.

"Great. Now all that's left is to wait. They should be here any minute now." Tsunade rested her head on the tops of her hands.

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"Hey someone wake up the captain!" Miro panicked. They all slept in too long and were rushing to get inside of Konoha. Their captain was currently blacked out on one of their shoulders, in an unrelenting deep sleep.

"You wake him up! He's on your shoulder!" Rin smacked Miro's head in irritation.

"Hey there is the office!" Ryu grinned. "Mishiro I'm gonna beat you!"

"What- OH HELL NO SQUIRT! GET BACK IN LINE!" Mishiro woke up instantly at the prospect of loosing and ran into the office within the blink of an eye.

"How did you-" Miro began but was cut off by Rin.

"Your a genius!" Rin hugged an overly embarrassed Ryu tight.

"We're late you guys! Come on!" Miro yanked their wrists to the office.

"How nice of you all to drop by... an hour and a half late." Tsunade glared at the Sand squad.

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_'Is that him? Is that...Mishiro? He looks just like him, acts just like him, is he related to him in any way? Is that Mishiro?'_ Hitomi's mind went in overdrive. The sight of the Sand nin crashing through a window at an unnatural velocity with an almost identical face to the boy she once knew scared her a little bit.

"Ah sorry Tsunade-Sama! We accidentally slept in too late." The man grinned from ear to ear, hauntingly familiar.

"Slept in? Your all ninja! You should always be on alert, never in a deep sleep. You sound just like Naruto..." Tsunade suppressed a vein on her forehead from popping out. Hitomi couldn't keep her eyes of the Sand's captain, all she saw was him.

"They were on alert...I wasn't. heh heh heh." The captain laughed nervously from the glares from everyone in the room-except Hitomi- and scratched the back of his head nervously, his scrolls on his belt jingled along with every scratch.

"I'm disappointed in you captain. But we don't have anymore time. Naruto should be protected at all times as of today. All of you introduce yourselves and then be on your way." Tsunade sighed.

"My name is Nagato. But you all can call me Sensei. I will be spearheading this mission so if there are any questions, come ask me." Nagato nodded to the sand group.

"My name is Leilei. I fight and heal. Uhmn...yeah." Leilei bowed shortly.

"My name is Hitomi." She inwardly hoped that the captain would recognize her. "I fight and heal minimally."

"My name is Hayate. I fight and win." Hayate laughed at the odd looks he got. "What? I never loose."

"_Yeah right, Hitomi has kicked your ass so many times its not even funny even more."_ Leilei mumbled under her breath, few caught what she said. Hayate blushed beet red.

"Well...my name is Mishiro. I'm the captain of this squad. Uh... I guess I'm second in command." Mishiro blinked, the room became awkward. Hitomi blushed and stared at the floor, her mind reeling again.

"My name is Miro. I fight and am a wind specialist." Miro bowed and smiled. His tan skin glowed underneath his golden long spiked hair. Miro's aquamarine eyes studied everyone before he stood back up, they stayed a little longer on an already flustered girl that quickly took an interest in wood flooring.

"My name is Rin. I heal and am a earth specialist." Rin smiled sweetly. Hayate blushed a little bit and Leilei ground her teeth together. Rin kept her smile even though she noticed her new partner's reactions. She brushed her long chestnut hair behind her ears and looked at her partner Ryu with her caramel eyes.

"My name is Ryu. I'm a bad ass, that's all you need to know. Don't cross me because you'll regret it." Ryu smirked. His cocky gray eyes connected with competitive topaz ones. Ryu's smirk widened and he flipped his black side sweep hair.

"Don't underestimate this Konoha squad Ryu. They may look harmless to you but I assure you that you will be in for a surprise." Tsunade then waved everyone off to go find their target.

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The group of eight walked as a crowd to the target Naruto's house. Few words were said, the silence made tension thicken. Hitomi instantly found solace in counting the cracks in the cement ground. Mishiro willed himself to speak to Nagato.

"So...Sensei. How is this gonna work? Do you have a plan of some sort?" Mishiro flinched at the annoyed look Nagato gave him.

"You'll know about our plans after we confront Naruto." If one could die from glares, Mishiro would have died ten minutes ago.

"Okay." Mishiro thought that he didn't like his new team.

"Look- there he is!" Rin pointed to a blonde wearing orange and black.

"Grab him and send him to his apartment. We will be inside, unpacking a bit." Nagato nodded for Hitomi, Rin, and Leilei to follow him.

"Oh great so us guys have to go get him?" Hayate whined.

"I bet I can bag him faster than you." Ryu taunted.

"Your on." Hayate disappeared from sight, Naruto along with him. Ryu blinked.

"I win!" Hayate danced around Ryu when he entered the front door of Naruto's apartment completely irritated.

"You cheated." Ryu grumbled and sat down on the couch.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?" A very pissed off Naruto yelled at the eight people in his home.

"A mission. We are your body guards until the Hokage deems it unnecessary." Nagato handed him the scroll.

"So I have eight people guarding me every minute of the day from Sand and here?" Naruto looked at everyone nod. "AHHHH TSUNADE-BAAA-CHAAANN I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" Naruto heaved, he looked like he would kill anyone at the moment.

"Hey calm down. Would you be happier if we trained you?" Miro sighed.

"Train me? What do you guys have that's awesome?" Naruto relaxed a bit.

"All eight of us are ANBU. We can teach you all kinds of things." Rin smiled.

"Okay. I'm in... hey lets all go eat some ramen!" Naruto clapped. Mishiro's eyes brightened up.

"Yeah! Ramen is delicious! I want pork!" Naruto high fived him instantly.

"I want beef! Come on you guys I'm hungry!" The two jumped up and down like toddlers.

"Let us unpack. We will meet you at Ichiraku." Nagato waved them off.

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"Hey Hitomi." Leilei poked her in the side while they unpacked. "Is that the guy...?"

"Yes..." Hitomi sighed, she knew that her best friend would ask.

"Are you okay?" Leilei changed out of her ANBU uniform to her normal Chinese dress.

"...No." Hitomi paused, tears threatened to fall. "He doesn't remember...or doesn't care." Hitomi felt herself hiccup, that let her tears pour down like rain. Leilei hugged her.

"Remember what?" Leilei felt Hitomi's body try to stop shaking.

"He changed my life. We were only friends for a few hours but, if I never met him I would be a completely different person." Hitomi dried her tears. "How could he forget the shooting stars?"

"Maybe he does remember. Talk to him. Make him remember." Leilei got up and handed Hitomi her light green kimono she packed.

"Maybe..." Hitomi dressed in her kimono, and walked to Ichiraku with her comrades.

"Hey uh... Hitomi was it? Come sit with me." Miro smiled and patted the empty space next to him.

"O-okay." Hitomi blushed a bit, looked over to Mishiro who was currently shoveling ramen down his throat with Naruto, and then sat on the seat next to Miro. Leilei sat with an angry Hayate arguing with a just as angry Ryu.

"Hello." Hitomi nodded and ordered a small bowl of beef ramen.

"That's a very pretty kimono." Miro smiled, his hair glowed in the morning light.

"Th-thank you. Your necklace is very pretty." She motioned to the turquoise crystal on black string laying on his neck. He was still wearing his ANBU uniform so she only had his necklace to work with.

"This thing? I've had it since I was a little boy. I guess its nice, thanks." Miro smiled, his white teeth vaguely reminded Hitomi of pearls.

"So... how was your trip coming here?" Hitomi asked as she bit into the beef in her ramen.

"It was... hectic. Hahaha our captain pushed us through the sand and a little bit through the forest he then fell asleep on the last day. It took awhile for him to wake up making us late." Miro made light of his situation.

"Well I hope you have a better night's sleep tonight." Hitomi smiled. Her eyes kept glancing over to the Sand captain though.

"Whats so interesting over there? I feel a bit neglected." Miro pouted slightly, but then he saw his captain competing with Naruto over ramen. "Oh."

"What do you mean oh?" Hitomi took this opportunity to freely watch the two.

"That is a pretty interesting sight." Miro grimaced and went back to his food, or at least attempted to.

"Yeah." Hitomi looked away, it was starting to get a little too disgusting for her.

"So Hitomi-Chan. How old are you?" Miro sipped his tea.

"Seventeen. I will be eighteen this winter." Hitomi set aside her food.

"Ah your very young to be an ANBU." Miro noted.

"Not really. Konoha has many ninja who are above average that climb the ranks quickly. I am just one of those many people." Hitomi smiled.

"Hm. I still think that you are amazing to be so young in such a strong group of people. Not many people make it to Jounin in the Sand so you are an amazing person in my standards." Miro nodded and went back to his food, if he didn't look over again he would be able to finish his breakfast.

"Thank you." Hitomi was so flattered that she embarrassed herself.

_'Can I drown myself in this ramen?'_

"How old are you Miro-Kun?" Hitomi wanted him to stop looking at her, she was sure that her face would melt off at any moment.

"I am nineteen. I will be twenty in the fall. Hey I'm about two years older then you." Miro laughed, Hitomi felt a little queasy but it wasn't a bad feeling...what was that emotion called?

"I WIN! HELL YEAH TAKE THAT NARUTO" Mishiro yelled from the top of his lungs.

"REMATCH!" Naruto punched the table.

"Maybe next time. I'm full now." Mishiro's face turned a little green.

"I'm gonna go back to the apartment now." Hitomi frowned while looking over the now arguing two.

"Let me walk you." Miro held out his hand, Hitomi hesitated looking over at the man that meant everything to her and then took Miro's hand with a sigh.

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"Hey whats with that blonde girl in our group? She is always far away from us and looks sad. Is she sick or something?" Mishiro asked Leilei.

"She is sad...her...heart is sick." Leilei watched Mishiro's oblivious mind think.

"I can cheer her up!" He smiled. "What does she like?"

"She likes chocolate... adventures... and stories." Leilei smiled, she knew that she could never be mad at this man.

"Okay. I'll make her happy again! Oh whats her name by the way?" Mishiro started to run but stopped himself short, his leg dangled in mid air.

"Hitomi Makoto." Leilei smiled at his oddball way of doing things.

"Got it, for some reason... that sounds familiar. Ah well." Mishiro ran out into the village in search of things to make the Hitomi girl happy. He never liked anyone to be upset.

"Okay so... chocolate, adventures, and stories." Mishiro thought over. "I think I will just do chocolate right now. I'll save the other stuff in case she gets sad again."

Mishiro searched the market of Konoha for chocolate until he found what he was looking for. He passed by many booths and accidentally knocked someone over. He immediately helped the man up and carried his boxes for him.

"I'm sorry about that. I didn't know where I was going and got distracted from all the decorations." Mishiro apologized to the grumbling man.

"Yeah yeah. I'm just glad that the cases didn't crack. I'd hate for one of them to open. About a decade back some little girl got a hold of some fireworks that I was carrying, she ran away with them and set them off with some boy. I got a load of shit for that by the parents and my boss. I wasn't allowed to carry them again." Mishiro set the boxes down on a table by a booth.

"What do you carry now?" Mishiro looked around. Konoha looked like they were setting up for another festival.

"Streamers." The man sighed. Mishiro laughed at him. "Hey shut up boy! Respect your elders!"

"Sorry." Mishiro giggled every so often. "So when is this festival gonna start?"

"In a few days if the weather is right." The man sat down.

"I haven't been to a Konoha festival in... ten years!" Mishiro blinked. Wasn't he with someone on that day too?

"Well now here is your chance to attend one again." The man opened a case of streamers and handed him one. "Thanks for your help. Now scram, I don't need my boss seeing that I got help." The man waved him away, Mishiro grinned and walked away.

"Ten years ago...I was training. Yeah. I spent my last day with some girl. She was fun because she had fireworks with her. Her parents found us...and I got yelled at and left. I haven't been in Konoha since. What was that girls name?" Mishiro smacked his forehead. "Damn my selective memory."

"Her name was Hitomi." Nagato spoke behind the Sand captain.

"What?" Mishiro turned around. "Sensei?"

"Her name, the girl you are trying to remember, her name is Hitomi." Nagato glared.

"Why are you always glaring at me? What have I ever done to you?" Mishiro didn't listen to anything that Nagato said.

"Because you hurt her."

"Hurt who?"

"Hitomi fucking Makoto!" Nagato growled. "Did you listen to anything I just said?"

"How did I hurt her? I just met her today!" Mishiro wanted to punch his superior.

"The girl you met ten years ago, with the fireworks is Hitomi Makoto. You hurt her because you forgot her. She has never stopped thinking about you during those ten years. You changed her life. Without you she would either be dead or a house wife. You are one of the most important people in her life and you crushed her." Nagato ran a hand through his hair. "You have no idea how much damage you did to her, in one morning no less... you are a fool." Mishiro stared at the box of chocolate he bought. How could he have forgotten that day? He used to think of that girl for years, always planning to come back. When did he forget?

"I'm...sorry." Mishiro looked up into the eyes of Nagato.

"Go apologize to her." Nagato pointed in the direction of Naruto's apartment.

"Thank you. For helping me remember." Mishiro nodded to his 'Sensei'.

"Better now than later." Nagato walked away from the Sand captain, he did as much as a father could do in his position.

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Hitomi sat on Naruto's bed, he wasn't home at the moment so he couldn't get mad. She didn't believe that he would get mad at a girl for sitting on his bed though, he would blush and run away. After Miro dropped her off at Naruto's apartment, she quickly walked into his bedroom. She couldn't look at his pearly white smile he gave her, she knew that she would blush crimson again if she did. Naruto was currently being watched by Hayate, Rin and Leilei. She wondered what kind of drama was happening over there, then again she didn't. Hitomi laid on the queen size bed and sighed. How long would this mission last? How long would she have to endure being near Mishiro who never would remember her? Hitomi forced it out of her mind. Tomorrow she would have to watch Naruto with two of the guys. Where was Nagato?

"Hey!" The front door swung open, the sound of running caught her ear. The bedroom door opened quickly, hitting the wall behind it. A weight on the other side of the bed made her open her eyes. A big box of chocolates was about two inches away from her face.

"What...?" Hitomi raised one of her eyebrows.

"Here. Its for you." The sound of Mishiro's voice made her body freeze in shock.

"Why are you giving this to me?" Hitomi took the box out of his hands and sat up.

"To say that I'm sorry." Mishiro looked her in the eyes, it made her uncomfortable.

"I...forgive you?" She had no idea why he was apologizing.

"Do you know why I'm saying sorry?" Mishiro put his hand inside of his coat, searching for something.

"No." Hitomi watched him take out a firework from his coat.

"I'm sorry for forgetting you." He took out his silver lighter-the same one from ten years ago- and lit the sparkler. Hitomi became overwhelmed with emotion. Tears sprung out of her like a fountain.

"Thank you." Hitomi cried and tackled him on the bed. She felt lighter than air after the weight of him not knowing her had been lifted.

"Your welcome 'Tomi." Mishiro laughed.

"Mishi!" Hitomi hugged him tighter, he laughed harder.

"I have my friend back." Hitomi blushed when she got off of him.

"You bet!" He grinned, she blushed a deeper shade of crimson. Someone knocked on the door of the room even though it was wide open, Leilei smiled when she got their attention.

"Its time for lunch!" She walked away. Leaving the two alone once more.

"I'm hungry, I wonder whats for lunch... I want hotdogs." Mishiro had a toothy grin.

"Hotdogs?" Hitomi raised an eyebrow.

"Yep. Lets go!" Mishiro ran out of the room chanting "Food. Food. Food!"

_'He's cute... just like I remembered.' _Hitomi forced herself to calm down and think clearly. _'Mission first, Heart second.'_

"Hitomi! Hurry up before everything gets eaten!" Leilei called out from the kitchen.

"YAY HOTDOGS!" Hitomi heard Mishiro cry out and she giggled for a moment.

"I'm coming!" Hitomi smiled. Maybe this mission wouldn't be so hard after all.

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Hitomi walked down the hall to the kitchen, Miro had an empty seat next to him. He patted it and smiled to her, she blushed and made her way to sit next to him. Naruto challenged Mishiro to a hotdog eating contest, he said he couldn't loose to him again. Leilei shoveled mashed potatoes on everyone's plates with an attitude- Hayate was staring at an aware Rin who was quietly eating her tri-tip. Nagato ate his pasta salad with a smile, for his 'daughter' was truly happy. Miro put the food she wanted on her plate, making her blush again.

_'I cant drown in potato salad...damn.' _

Leilei sat next to Hitomi, she knew that she would be restrained by her in case she got violent. Hayate was a dead man walking. As if he noticed the looks that were given to him, he shivered and went back to his food. Rin sighed and attempted to talk to Nagato.

"Are you okay Hitomi-Chan?" Miro asked after a few minutes of eating.

"Oh, yes. Why?" Hitomi kept on eating her food.

"You ran into the room. You worried me." Miro pouted.

"I w-worried you?" Hitomi choked on the juice she drank. Everyone stopped what they were doing to watch Hitomi turn blue for five seconds. When she could breathe Hitomi told everyone:

"Go back to what you were doing." Hitomi coughed.

"Are you okay Hitomi-Chan?" Miro asked her, a couple people heard him- one person glared.

"Y-yeah. I'll be okay." Hitomi kept coughing a little while longer.

"Don't die!" Naruto shouted from across the table, he had won the hotdog eating contest a few minutes ago.

"I wont thanks!" Hitomi gave him an odd look.

"I need you to protect me and stuff. Oh hey you should meet my teammate Sakura! And my Sensei! Kakashi-Sensei!" Naruto grinned.

"Sure. How about tomorrow?" Hitomi decided not to finish her plate in fear of choking in front of everyone again.

"Why not today! After this. I'm sure Sakura will like you. And Kakashi-Sensei is pretty cool too!" Naruto laughed and hit a queasy Mishiro on the back.

"BATHROOM" Mishiro disappeared in the blink of an eye, surprising everyone.

"He's fast." Leilei noted.

"Only when he's sick or in battle." Miro nodded. Rin smiled making Hayate blush and Leilei throw her plate at his face- she connected.

"Hey what was that for?" Hayate yelled at an angry Leilei storming out of the apartment.

"Dumbass. Go talk to her." Nagato pointed at the door.

"Yes sir." Hayate ran after Leilei, shouting could be heard.

"What I miss?" Mishiro came out of the bathroom with a smile on his face.

"Nothing important." Rin smiled.

"Oh okay." Mishiro smiled back. He sat next to Naruto and stared at Hitomi.

"So shall we go see this Kakashi and Sakura?" Miro asked Naruto.

"Yeah!" Naruto grabbed Mishiro's wrist and catapulted him out the door.

"He's...very lively." Rin exclaimed.

"Yes." Nagato and Rin walked out the door.

"Lead the way Hitomi-Chan" Miro smirked at her tomato colored face.

"O-okay." Hitomi grabbed his hand and stepped out of the apartment with him.

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End file.
